HardCorePoker - Poker Strategy and News

Playing Against Maniacs

2008-08-10T12:46:00.000-07:00

Everyone has had some experience playing against a maniac whether it is in a cash game or a tournament. This maniac will make ridiculous raises or re-raises preflop and may push all in on the flop. These players can be very profitable to play against, but you have to know what you are doing. To beat a maniac you have to be willing to gamble when you have the advantage, even if it is only 60-40. You also need to very careful of your position, so you don't get picked off by a player with a better hand in later position.

Say you are at a table with a player who is constantly making large raises preflop. You know this player is a maniac and you want to pick them off. You need to be patient enough to make sure that when you re-raise them or put them all in, that you have the best hand. You don't want to call with QJ just because you think it is likely they have a worse hand. Wait until you have at least a medium pocket pair or an ace with a decent kicker. You want to make sure that you are at least 60% or better.

Against the maniac, you want to either raise if you act before them, or re-raise if you act after them. Since this player is a maniac and may push all in on the flop regardless of what it is, you have to be willing to play this hand for all your chips. Otherwise the maniac will win, since most of the time you will either miss the flop or be faced with overcards. You have to remember that most of the time the maniac will also have missed the flop as well.

If you hold AA or KK, you may want to set a trap for the maniac. Instead of reraising them, you might smooth call and let them hang themself on the flop when the make a large bet or move all in.

There will also be other players trying to pick off the maniac. You need to be aware of this when you are in early position. If you have A10, which you are certain will have the maniac beat, but get re-raised by anther player, you have to be willing to let you hand go.

Mulit Table Tournaments - Final Rounds

2008-07-31T15:56:00.000-07:00

The key to the final rounds of a multi table tournament are reads and selective aggression. Once you reach the final table of a multi table tournament you will not be seeing any new opponents. Hopefully by this stage you will have played with many of these opponents earlier in the tournament and have a good read on them. It is very important to trust your reads and use them in making your decisions.

Usually the person who ends up winning a multi table tournament is someone who is aggressive and willing to take some chances. This means that you will have to loosen up a little. If you are on the button and their are no callers, you should raise it up to try and take down the blinds. Some multi table tournaments require that players also post antes in the final rounds. In this case, aggression is even more important as their will be alot of money in the pot pre-flop. When you are in position, you can play a much wider variety of hands aggressively. This should help you accumulate some extra chips. If you notice a tight or weak opponent, play very aggressively against them. The only players you want to avoid aggressive play against are those who are themselves very aggressive. These players may be better to trap. Don't try to bully them with marginal hands as they will be likely to play back at you.

You will also need to decide whether your goal is to try to win the tournament even if it means you may bust our early at the final table, or whether your goal is to play it safer and try to last as long as possible. If your goal is to win the tournament, you will need to be willing to gamble with hands such as middle pairs or hands like AQ, AJ. In order to win the tournament you will have to win some races and get lucky a few times. If you goal is just to hang on as long as possible, then you will want to stick to a very tight aggressive strategy where you only play the best hands or play good hands when you are in position.

As more players are eliminated, the value of your starting hands will go up. While A7 is not a good starting hand in early position when you have 10 players left, it is very good when you are five handed. You will need to play more hands as the table becomes smaller. Usually the player who wins will be one who plays aggressively, but is also able to read their opponents well.

When you are down to 2 or three handed, it is all pre flop play and reading your opponents. The blinds will probably be very high compared to your stack and you can't afford to make loose calls preflop. You need to read your oppponents well and either fold or play your hand very aggressively.

Multi Table Tournament Strategy - Middle Rounds

2008-07-25T22:40:00.000-07:00

During the middle rounds of a multi table tournament, reading your opponents becomes more important. In the early rounds, sticking to a very tight, aggressive strategy should get you through to the middle rounds. During the middle rounds, you want to be able to use the reads you have on your opponents more and play a wider variety of hands. If the players in the blinds are weak, you should try to steal the blinds, even if you don't have good cards. If you always notice a certain player calling pre-flop with anything, but you know they will fold if you put in a re-raise, then go ahead and attack them. You don't want to be a total kamikaze in the middle rounds, but you should loosen up your starting hand requirements and use reads that you have gained to your advantage.

How you play the middle rounds will also depend on your stack size at this point. If you are short stacked, you will have to push all in before you get blinded down too far. Try to find a good spot to push all in. You don't want to re-raise all in with a marginal hand when there are already callers. If you can't find a good hand, try to move all in when the pot is unopened and there are not many players to act behind you.

If you are a medium stack, you should use your reads to make good plays. Be aggressive against weak players and small stacks. Be more cautious against larger stacks or very aggressive players. Try to stick to a fairly tight aggressive strategy, at the same time mixing your play up to keep opponents guessing. Often too many medium stacks think they don't have enough chips and will end up going all in with marginal hands. Be patient, and remember that a medium stack is usually only one double up away from becomming a large stack.

If you are a large stack, use your stack to bully smaller stacks when you have good position or you know your oppenents are very tight/weak. Don't raise too many pots with marginal cards, just because you are the big stack. Too much of this and you will quickly lose your stack. Be aware of small stacks whose only move is all in due to their stack size. You don't want to double them up by calling their all in with bad cards.

By: Logan

Multi Table Tournament Strategy - Early Rounds

2008-07-16T21:38:00.000-07:00

In the early rounds of multi table tournaments you want to stick to a very tight aggressive strategy. You should play only the top hands such as pocket pairs and AK, AQ, etc. You also need to be careful not to get all in post flop with only one pair. When the chip stacks are so big compared to the blinds, alot of players will call with anything and hope to hit a monster flop. If you can get all in preflop with AA or KK, this is a great situation, but you want to avoid races until the later stages of the tournament when they are unavoidable. Alot of players play almost anything in the early rounds because chip stacks are so huge compared to blinds. Some players will get lucky and flop a flush when they play hands like 9 7 suited, but since the odds are approx 118-1 of flopping a flush, most of the time you will be just throwing your money away. Too many times players with flop a straight draw or flush draw and throw away too many chips trying to hit their draw. When you miss, you are losing too many valuable chips, which will leave you short stacked. You want to keep your stack size as big as possible and hope to double up when you hit a set or get a premium hand like AA or KK. The most important thing in the early rounds is survive them and only play top hands which will give you a chance to double up.

By: Logan

Types of Opponents

2008-07-12T11:53:00.001-07:00

Types of Opponents

When playing poker, you will encounter many different types of opponents. Being able to recognize how your opponents are playing and what types of players they are, will allow you to make better decisions when you are playing against them.

Most poker players can be grouped into one of four categories: aggressive-tight, aggressive-loose, passive-tight or passive-loose.

The passive-loose player will call too often pre-flop with very marginal hands. On the flop, they will call when they shouldn’t and will often chase any kind of draw. This player is the easiest kind to play against. Don’t try anything fancy with them. Raise when you have a good hand, and bet when you think you have the best hand after the flop. Never try to bluff this kind of player, as they will too often call you. Straightforward play is the key here. If you do see a re-raise from this passive player, it probably means they have you beat.

The passive-tight player is a player who plays very few hands pre-flop. They will only play the strong starting hands. If this passive-tight player raises pre-flop this generally indicates great strength. You should not play the hand unless you have a really good hand. If you do see the flop against them, watch to see if they check or bet out. Often when these passive-tight players miss the flop, or are faced with a scary flop, they will check. You may be able to take the pot away from them with a bet. If you do bet the flop and the passive-tight player re-raises you, you should throw your hand away unless you have a very good hand.

The aggressive-loose player will play a wide variety of hands. They will usually come into a hand raising and are just as likely to raise with hands like QQ as 87 suited or even J9 off suit. They will almost always bet out on the flop. Against the aggressive-loose player, you want to wait for strong cards, and then re-raise them before the flop. That will either force them to fold, or to call you when you have a strong hand. If you hit the flop, or already have a big pair, you should continue to bet aggressively to make them fold. Otherwise, they may try to steal the pot from you or try to see a free card. The aggressive-loose player may even re-raise you on the flop with any kind of drawing hand, middle or third pair. If you have a good hand such as top pair with a good kicker, you should re-raise and force them to throw away their hand or make the bad call.

The aggressive-tight player is a player who will play only strong hands pre-flop. When they come into a pot with a raise, this indicates strength. They will almost always bet out on the flop, and if you try to bluff them, they may re-raise you or call. Against this type of player, you don’t want to bluff, as they are likely playing a very strong hand. In fact, it is best to avoid playing a hand with them, unless your hand is very strong. When you do have one of the really strong hands such as AA or KK, QQ or AK you can simply re-raise this player. Since they are tight they might throw away hands like JJ, 1010, 99 or AQ.

You will encounter other types of players at the tables, but most fall somewhere within these categories. You may find that a player is on tilt and continually moving all-in with any cards or calling with terrible odds on any draw. These players appear to be ‘maniacs’ In this case, you should wait until you have a strong hand and then play it aggressively against them.

By: Logan

Positioning and Starting Hands

2008-07-06T13:34:00.001-07:00

Playing good starting hands and playing your position well are very important aspects of poker. These two concepts go hand in hand. What may be a good starting hand in late position may be unplayable in early position. There are three areas of position: early position, middle position and late position. Being in early position is a disadvantage since you will have to act before most of your opponents and your opponents will have a chance to react to what you have done. Being in middle position is better that being in early position, but is still not optimal. You will be able to see what the players in early position have done, but there will still be several players to act after you. Being in late position is the most advantageous since you can see what your opponents do before it is your turn to act. You will need to play tighter in early and middle position, which means only playing the strong starting hands. However, in late position you can play a lot more hands as you will have gained information about your opponents hands based on what they have already done before you.

Different poker pros advocate using different starting hands, but generally you will only play the strongest starting hands from early position. This is because you can play the strongest hands from any position, but if you play a mediocre hand from starting position, you may be forced to fold or make a bad call if you are re-raised. Let’s say you are in early position and you hold KK. An aggressive player in late position re-raises you. You know that this aggressive player might be holding anything and you can safely re-raise them without worrying that your KK is beat. However, if you decide to play a mediocre hand from early position such as Q10and you are re-raised by the player in late position, it is very hard to call. They might have you beat with any number of hands such as K9, A2, QJ, etc. When you are in middle position you can play a lot more hands, especially when no one has called in front of you. You must remember that there are still several players to act after you and that you could get re-raised. In late position you can play a wide variety of hands if the pot is un-raised. In fact, when you have any sort of playable hand in late position, you should raise if there are no callers. If you know that the blinds are both weak players who won’t defend, you should raise with any cards to steal the blinds.

It is important to note that if you are playing short handed or with fewer players at the table, that you should loosen up your starting hand requirements. At a full table of ten players you wouldn’t want to play A8 in early position, but at a table of 5 players, you would likely raise with A8. Also, how tight or loose your opponents are will influence how you play your starting hands and your position. At a very tight table, you might want to expand your starting hand requirement since you will be able to take down a lot of pots uncontested. However, at a loose table you want to tighten up your starting hand requirements and play very aggressively when you do have a good hand, since you will be faced with a lot of callers.
Before you sit down at a poker table, you should watch a few rounds to see how the players are playing. You can then use this information to your advantage. Try to sit to the right of a tight player and to the left of the aggressive player. Sitting to the right of the tight player means that most of the time you will be acting before them. That means you can steal a lot of blinds from them. If you raise they will likely fold and you can pick up the blinds. When you notice a very aggressive player, you will want to sit to the left of them, which means that most of the time you will be acting after them. Since this aggressive player will often be raising or re-raising, you don’t want to act in front of them because you will find yourself being raised too often. By acting after them you can re-raise them when you do have a big hand or you can trap them by just calling their raise and letting them hang themselves when they aggressively bet out on the flop.

By: Logan

Playing Pocket Pairs Part Three

2008-07-02T21:18:00.000-07:00

Sometimes, you will want to fold when you have a pocket pair if it is too expensive to play the hand. Let’s say you are in early position with 77. You raise, and then another opponent re-raises. Another opponent re-raises the raiser or moves all in. At this point it is probably too expensive to be playing this hand with only 77. It is very likely that at least one of your opponents has a bigger pocket pair, which will make you approximately a 4-1 underdog, something you never want to be.

By: Logan

Playing Pocket Pairs Part Two

2008-06-29T13:23:00.000-07:00

Another way to play pocket pairs is simply to call. There are two main advantages to just calling with pocket pairs. Firstly, by calling, you have not indicated strength, and your opponents will not know that you have a strong hand. For example, if you have AA and you just call the big blind which hold K7 of hearts. If the flop comes with a king, such as K 10, 4, you may be able to win a big pot from your opponent who will think his top pair is good. But, if the flop comes K, 7, 4 you will be in a lot of trouble as your opponent will now have 2 pairs and you will still think your over-pair of aces are good. When you have very big pocket pairs it is much safer to raise than just call; however, sometimes you can win a much larger pot by trapping your opponent by just calling with a large pocket pair. This trap play usually works best against a very aggressive opponent. The aggressive opponent may raise with a variety of hands. By just calling their raise, rather than re-raising you will disguise the strength of your hand. Since you opponent is aggressive, they will likely bet out on the flop. Now, you can re-raise them and win a larger pot or continue to trap them by just calling. A second advantage of just calling with pocket pairs is that you can see the flop more cheaply when you have middle or lower pocket pairs such as 22-88. If you miss the flop, you can just throw your hand away without investing much money. If you do hit the flop, your hand is disguised since you didn’t raise pre-flop and you may be able to win a large pot.

Playing Pocket Pairs Part One

2008-06-26T21:53:00.000-07:00

Most of the time when you have a pocket pair you will want to play aggressively. Pocket pairs are strong hands and you want to play your strong hands aggressively to win the pot. When you raise or re-raise with pocket pairs, there are three main advantages. Firstly, you can win the pot outright if everyone folds. This is especially important when you are holding a low pocket pair such as 22-66. These hands are usually the best pre-flop, but after the flop, you will almost certainly be faced with over cards and your hand will not likely be the best. Secondly, you can build the pot by getting more money in when you have a strong hand. When you hold one of the best hands like AA or KK, you want other players to put money into the pot, but you don’t want to just let everyone at the table see the flop for free. Thirdly, you show strength by raising before the flop which may allow you to win the pot on the flop, even without the best hand. For example, if you are holding 55 pre-flop and one player calls you with 87 of spades. The flop comes Ah Qc 7d. Your opponent now has a pair of 7’s which is better than your pair of 5’s, but since you made a raise before the flop and indicated strength, he may fold if you make a strong bet on the flop because he thinks you have hit a pair of aces or queens

Low Stakes Poker

2008-06-24T08:44:00.000-07:00

Low Stakes Poker

When playing low stakes limit or no limit holdem, straightforward play is key. There is no need to make any fancy plays or try to bluff when you have nothing, as advanced plays will be lost at this level and will be counterproductive.

You should stick to a very simple, tight/aggressive strategy. Raise when you have premium cards, and bet out aggressively when you hit the flop. Usually, at low stakes you never want to slow play big hands pre-flop. There is nothing worse than having pocket aces against 6 opponents. One of them will almost always out-flop or outdraw you and you will end up losing a big pot.

Usually at every low stakes table, you will notice one or two opponents who are actually good players and should be playing at higher stakes. Maybe they are rebuilding their bankroll or just practicing some strategy at these lower stakes. These are the only players you should even consider trying more advanced plays against.

Winning at low stakes poker is very difficult. Too many players see the flop with marginal hands and you will end up getting out-flopped, outdrawn and rivered far more at low stakes than you will at medium or high stakes. To win at low stakes poker, you have to be very disciplined and maintain a tight/aggressive strategy.

By: Logan

Heads Up Poker Play

2008-06-22T14:25:00.000-07:00

Recently heads up cash games and heads up tournaments have become very popular. There are several keys to winning heads up. These include reading your opponents, being aggressive and playing your position.

Reading your opponents is extremely important in heads up play. When you are heads up it is more important to play your opponent than the cards. If you are able to get a good read on your opponent, you will be able to beat them. You should watch your opponent’s betting patterns and when you do show down a hand, go back through the hand in your head to see what your opponent did and how they played that hand. After awhile you will begin to see a pattern in the way they bet and play certain hands. You might notice that your opponent will always raise 3 times the pot when they hold an ace or that they will always check the flop, when they miss it. You must use this information to your advantage.

If you know your opponent is passive, then bet into them if you are first to act. If you have position and act after them, then bet if they check. If your opponent is very aggressive, then you may want to trap them. You can let them bet and just call. This will likely further induce your opponent to bet on the next streets.

Usually in heads up play the aggressor wins most of the time. If you raise aggressively pre-flop, you will force your opponent to lay down a lot of hands and you can pick up the blinds. Since you only hit the flop about 30% of the time, it means that your opponent will miss the flop 70% of the time. If you are aggressive and bet on the flop regardless of whether you hit it or not, it will be hard for your opponent to call when they will be missing the flop most of the time. If you can steal a lot of blinds heads up and take down a lot of pots on the flop by being aggressive, you will end up profiting.

When you find yourself playing against a very aggressive player, you must choose your hands wisely. You should not try to be even more aggressive than them. Folding your garbage hands is a good way to wear down your opponent. When you do have a good hand, you want to raise or re-raise them rather than calling. This will put the pressure back on them.

Position is very important in heads up play. When you are the dealer (or in the small blind) you will have the advantage of position on your opponent. You will act first pre-flop, but will have the advantage of acting last on the flop, turn and river. You should play very aggressively from the small blind. Raise with a wide variety of hands. If you opponent folds, you will pick up the blinds. If your opponent calls, you will have position on them after the flop. Since you opponent will miss the flop most of the time, if they check, you can usually take the pot by betting. If your opponent does bet, then you at least have this information before you have to make your decision.

By: Logan

Short Stacked Poker Strategy

2008-06-19T10:07:00.000-07:00

When you are playing the short stack you need to use a different strategy that you would use with an average size stack. Generally, being the short stack puts you at a disadvantage, but you can take advantage of your short stack and turn the tables on opponents who will try to push you around.

When you are on the short stack, you want to play very tight. You can’t afford to make speculative calls with suited connectors or play marginal hands. If you are playing a $1/2 no limit cash game and you only have $30 you can’t afford to be calling raises of $6 or $8 just to see a flop with a marginal hand that you are not likely to hit. You need to play only the big hands such as AA-88 and AKs, AK, AQs, AQ, and play them very aggressively. With these hands the ideal situation is to be able to come over the top of an opponent who has already raised and put them all in. Say one player has raised it to $8. Now you can come over the top and move all in for your $30. If they fold you have picked up a nice pot already. If they call you, you should be in a good situation to double up if you are playing one of the top hands.

You can take advantage of players who try to bully you when you are on the short stack by using this aggressive strategy to turn the tables on them. Often times you can force them to make poor calls because they think it is not much more for them to make the call. If you are an average stack of $100, the aggressive player who raised to $8 would not likely call you if you re-raised to $30 when they have a hand like A7or K10. However, when you only have $30 left and you go all in, many opponents think that they are priced in or that it won’t really hurt their stack if they lose the hand. When opponents play against a short stack they tend to make very loose calls, which should benefit you if you stick to playing tight. An aggressive player may raise with hands like A7, K10, etc. If you have a hand like AK or JJ or even 88, you will the favorite.

When you are playing the short stack, you also need to read your opponents well. If you have 9-9 and an opponent has made a raise, normally you would want to re-raise all in. However, if this opponent is extremely tight and you think they might have a higher pocket pair, you may want to just fold this hand and wait for a better opportunity. The opposite also applies too. If you have a very loose opponent who raises with anything, you might want to re-raise them all in with hand like AJ, A10, A9, KQ, KJ or any pocket pair.

By: Logan

Controlling pot size in No Limit Holdem Poker

2008-06-16T11:12:00.000-07:00

In no limit hold’em it is important to control the size of the pot. If you can manage to win big pots and lose small ones, you will be a successful player. You want to play a big pot when you have a big hand and you want to play a small pot when you are have a good hand, but you are not sure if it is the winning hand.

When you have one of the best starting hands, usually you want to try to build a big pot with this hand, while at the same time protecting your hand. Usually when you have a big hand starting hand like AA, KK, QQ, AK, JJ you want to make a good size pre flop raise. If you hit the flop or have an overpair you want to continue to build the pot, by making a big bet on the flop and continuing with big bets on the turn and river.

You should always try to play a big pot when you have a big hand. Too many players play small pots with big hands and fail to make as much profit off the hand as they should. If you have AA pre-flop an opponent has a good hand like 99 or AJ they are going to call your raise whether it is small or big. By making the big raise you will be protecting your hand at the same time. When you have AA you want to play a big pot against one opponent who has AJ. If the flop comes J-10-4 you are going to win a big pot. You want to avoid making a small pre-flop raise with AA and playing a pot against 3 opponents with hands like 10-9s 4-4 and 6-5s. You can easily get out flopped or out drawn in this situation and end up playing a large pot that you will lose.

When you have a decent hand, but are worried that you may not have the best hand, you want to avoid playing a large pot. Let’s say you have JJ pre-flop and are called by one opponent. The flop comes A-10-3. You think your Jacks are good, but with the overcard on the board you are not sure. You want to slow down on the flop and not bet too much. You can bet half the pot instead of betting the pot. If you opponent had an ace, why throw away too much money. If you are called on the flop, you can check the turn. If your opponent bets now you can fold or call depending on your read. But you don’t want to bet the turn and get check raised when you may be beat. An exception to this is when you think your opponent may be drawing, or you are very certain you have your opponent beat.

When you miss the flop, you want to try to keep the pot from getting too big. You can this by making a small bet on the flop. If you are called on the flop and don’t improve on the turn, you will most likely want to check/fold or check/call the river. An example of this would be when you have AK and you make a nice raise pre-flop. You end up getting called by two opponents who also call you bet on the flop. At this point you can be pretty sure that you don’t have the best hand and you can check/fold on the turn.

By: Logan

Online Poker Tells Part 2

2008-06-12T11:38:00.000-07:00

The pre-action button ties in with another online tell, which is amount of time player’s use before acting. The online game is played much faster than the live game, and most players will act within a few seconds. If a player is always acting within a couple of seconds pre-flop, and suddenly they take longer to act before either calling or raising, they probably have a good hand and are taking a little extra time deciding how to play it. In most cases, players who take a long time before checking post flop are weak. By taking a long time to act, they want you to think they are strong so you won’t bet and they can see the next card. However, when a player takes a long time to act before betting, this usually conveys strength. They are taking more time than usual thinking about how to bet their hand. A player who very quickly calls you bet is usually weak. They may be drawing or have a small pair and want to see another card.

With all these tells you must be careful. Cunning players will try to make fake tells to trick you into believing what they want so they can exploit you.

By: Logan

Online Poker Tells

2008-06-10T23:44:00.000-07:00

In online poker, just as in live poker, there are numerous tells. Tells in online poker are often more subtle, but if you pay close attention, they are easy enough to pick up and can give you a great advantage over your opponents.

One very common tell is the use of the pre-action buttons. Most internet poker sites have pre-action buttons that players can use to select their course of action before it is their turn to act. Players can call, raise, check, or fold. It is very easy to notice when your opponents are using the pre-action buttons, as their action will be instantly carried out when it is their turn to act. When you detect your opponent using the pre-action buttons, this is valuable information that can be used to your advantage.

If an opponent is always using the pre-action fold button, and suddenly they take time before raising, you can assume that they have a very good hand. If they are using the pre-action call button, this often means that they have a marginal hand and want to see the flop cheaply. When you have a good hand, you should raise this player and force them to fold their weaker hand. If you are heads up against an opponent on the flop, and they use the pre-action check button, it is likely that they have a weak hand and will fold to a bet, in which case you should bet.

By: Logan

Playing AK in no limit poker

2008-06-06T12:57:00.000-07:00

AK is one of the best starting hands in poker, and is also one of hardest hands to play. This is because it has a lot of potential, but without improvement on the flop, you don’t have much of a hand.

Since AK is one of the strongest starting hands, you should put in a bet or re-raise from any position with AK. This is a hand where you want to win before the flop since about 70% of the time you will end up missing the flop. If you are first to open the pot, you should put in a sizeable raise. After all, you are likely holding the best hand. If there are already callers or someone has raised, you should put in a healthy raise or re-raise. AK can be played very aggressively, and a lot of times by playing aggressively you can push someone out of the pot who has a weak pocket pair or a weaker unpaired hand.

If someone re-raises you, you need to evaluate carefully whether this is a very tight player who is probably re-raising with AA or KK, or whether this is a loose, aggressive player who is likely to re-raise with a wide variety of hands. If you are being re-raised by a loose-aggressive player or just a plain old maniac, you can re-raise them or put them all in. This will either force them to fold, or to call you when they likely have a weaker hand. Even if they do have a pocket pair, you won’t be much of and underdog. Against the loose, aggressive player, you will likely find yourself in a lot of good situation where you may have them dominated if they are playing hands such as AQ, AJ A10 or KQ, KJ etc.

If you feel you have been re-raised by a very tight player, you should throw your hand away unless you are already pot committed. This tight player may have AA or KK, which would make you a big underdog. Even if they don’t have AA or KK, they will likely have a large pocket pair such as QQ JJ or 10 10. Against these high pocket pairs you will be about a 57-43 underdog, which is something you want to avoid.

When you get called holding AK and see a flop, you should bet out on the flop if you are first to act or is no one else bets. It is likely that you still have the best hand. If someone bets out before it is your turn to act, you should probably just throw it away as you are likely beat. The last thing you want to do is get married to AK and end up playing it for a lot of chips after the flop when you don’t hit a pair. While it is a great starting hand, it is nothing more than ace high if you don’t improve on the flop.

An alternate way you can play AK if you miss the flop is to check it. If no one bets, you can take a free card and hope to hit an ace or king. If someone does bet, you can re-raise and represent a huge hand. Since you raised before the flop, you have already indicated a lot of strength. The check-raise on the flop indicates that you have a monster hand, and it will be very hard for your opponent to call this re-raise without a very strong hand. An exception to this is if a tight player bets into you. In this case you probably want to fold as the tight player probably has at least top pair.

By: Logan

Slowplaying AA and KK in no limit holdem

2008-06-03T13:28:00.000-07:00

In limit holdem, there is not much point to slowplaying, as you will get too many callers, and likely end up getting outdrawn. In no limit holdem there are times when slowplaying large pairs such as AA or KK may win you a much bigger pot.

Most of the time, you will not want to slowplay when you have a large pocket pair such as AA or KK. Straightforward raising pre-flop and betting out on the flop are the safest way to play these big pairs. However, there are some instances when you should consider slowplaying.

Slowplaying is useful in varying you style so that it will be harder for opponents to read you. If you always raise 5 times the big blind every time you have AA, your opponents will start to notice this and you won't be able to get paid off when you have these big hands. If you raise sometimes and slowplay other times, your opponents will not be able to get a read on your hands.

Another time you may want to slowplay is when you are playing against a very aggressive opponent. This aggressive opponent will likely be raising pre-flop with a wide variety of hands. If you re-raise them, it will be obvious that you have a really good hand, and they will likely fold. By just calling their raise, you will likely induce a bet on the flop. Now you should take a careful look at the board before deciding whether to just call again or re-raise. If the board has a flush or straight draw, you will likely want to re-raise to try to take down the pot before the turn. You don't want to let your opponent outdraw you on the turn or river cheaply. If there is no draw on board, you may want to let your opponent bet and just smooth call their bet one more time.

You never want to slowplay when multiple opponents have already entered the pot. There is just too much chance that you will get out-flopped or outdrawn. It is also not wise to slowplay against a passive opponent since you will probably take down a larger pot with straightforward play.

By: Logan

Cash Game Strategy

2008-06-01T20:08:00.000-07:00

Selective aggression, reading your opponents and mixing up your play are all important parts of cash game strategy. Cash game strategy differs greatly from tournament strategy. In sit and go tournaments you usually end up playing only a couple big hands for all your chips. In cash games you will be playing a lot more hands and need a more complex strategy to win.

Selective aggression is key to a solid cash game strategy. Being aggressive gives you two ways to win a hand: you can win the hand if you force your opponent to fold, or you can win if you show down the best hand. It is important to be selectively aggressive rather than loosely aggressive because if you play too many hands your opponents won’t give you credit for a real hand and will just re-raise you. You want to have a controlled, aggressive image so that when you do bet other players respect your raise and will fold or give you credit for a big hand. It is important to be aggressive when you have a strong hand in order to drive out weaker players and to build the pot by betting. Many poker players believe that you should never call pre-flop, you should either come in raising (or re-raising) or fold. This will disguise your hand strength. If you always come into a pot aggressively regardless of whether you have AA or 10-9 suited, your opponents will have a harder time reading you. You should also be aggressive when you are in late position and you have a playable hand. You should raise and try to steal the blinds. Sometimes you may get caught and be re-raised, but this will not happen too often and overall it will be a profitable play.

Reading your opponents is vital in cash games. If you are able to get a good read on your opponents, you will be able to make better decisions and increase your profit. You should watch your opponents carefully to get a read on their betting patterns, how they play different hands and how they react to different situations. If you notice that an opponent always calls in the big blind no matter how much it is raised, then you need to take this into consideration. There is no point in trying to steal the blinds from them if you don’t have a decent hand, as they will always call anyways. However, if you do have a good hand, you can take advantage of this information and make a big raise since you know this opponent will call and pay you off. If you notice that an opponent always limps in when they have a marginal hand, you should raise them and force them to fold. If you notice an aggressive opponent who always comes into a pot raising and then checks when they hit the flop, you should beware of this. You should also be careful of very skilled players who will be aware of how their actions are perceived and will try to mix up their play to deceive you.

It is just as important to be able to disguise and mix up your play as it is to be able to read your opponents. Otherwise your opponents will be able to read you and outmaneuver you. If you always raise three times big blind when you have a good hand, but only call when you have speculative hands, your opponents will notice this. Instead, consider raising the same amount every time you come into a pot, regardless of what you are holding. If you always bet out on the flop when you hit it and check when you miss it, this will be obvious to your opponents. You might mix it up by sometimes betting out when you hit the flop and sometimes check-raising when you hit the flop. By adding in plays such as check-raising and varying the size of your bets regardless of whether you hit or missed the flop, you will keep your opponents guessing and on edge.

By: Logan